Craig Lodge Community
Encyclopedia
Craig Lodge Community is a lay community of the Roman Catholic Church based in Dalmally
, Argyll
in the west Highlands of Scotland.
, Argyll
, Scotland
, was run by Calum and Mary Anne MacFarlane-Barrow as a guest house until a pilgrimage
to Medjugorje in 1984 gave their lives a new direction. It was their children who first read about the events at Medjugorje, and the reports that the Virgin Mary was appearing to six teenagers. They had grown up in a Catholic family and were well versed in the stories of Marian apparitions at Lourdes
and Fatima
. They were intrigued with the idea something like this could happen in their own time and were determined to go and visit and find out more. The visit to Medjugorje, a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina, was a life changing experience. The region was then still part of Communist Yugoslavia
and to practice the Catholic faith often met with persecution. Seeing the deep faith of the local people and hearing about the extraordinary events firsthand left a lasting impression on the group. They also learnt about the messages the Virgin Mary, under the title, Queen of Peace, was giving through the visionaries. As in Lourdes
and Fatima
her message at Medjugorje continues to be a call to return to the gospel values; to decide for God, to pray and to fast. When they returned home they urged their parents to go and visit Medjugorje too. Their experiences in Medjugorje paved the way for Calum and Mary Anne taking the decision to turn their guest house into a retreat centre – Craig Lodge Family House of Prayer. Guests come to join in with organized retreats or just to enjoy the beautiful, peaceful surroundings and take part in the Community’s daily prayer routine.
In 1990 Calum and Mary Anne invited a group of young people to form a youth community (named Krizevac Community) at Craig Lodge. The commitment was for one year and the purpose was to deepen their faith through living out the messages of Medjugorje.
“Dear Children my heart is full of grace and love. My heart is the gift I give you. Be united! Pray together! Love together!”
Ten years later in 2000, it was decided the Community should incorporate Permanent members too – families, single people or religious who choose to renew their commitment annually. This is Craig Lodge Community as it is today. While members of the House Community live in Craig Lodge itself and commit to one year, Permanent members live independently, in their own homes, close by to Craig Lodge. Their daily commitment is different to that of the House Community to take into account family and work responsibilities.
"Pray, pray, pray."
Daily Life
Prayer is integral to the daily life of the Community: Divine Office
, the Rosary
, Praise and Worship, Lectio Divina
, Intercessory prayer particularly for priests. If prayer is the breath of the Community then the Eucharist is the heart. Daily life centres on the Holy Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
“Today I invite you all to fall in love with the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Adore him, little children, in your parishes. In this way you will be united with the entire world. Jesus will become your friend and you will not talk of Him as someone you hardly know. Union with him will be a joy for you and you will become witnesses to Jesus’ love which he has for every creature. Little children when you adore Jesus you are also close to me.”
The overarching rule of the Community is to love:
“Love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins, offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4: 8-11
Service
The Community’s life has a strong calling to service. First and foremost by offering hospitality to the guests who come on retreat at Craig Lodge; by praying with them and making them feel at home. The Community is committed to youth work running several youth events each year at Craig Lodge – Easter
, Summer & Advent
. There is also an outreach team that carries out missions in secondary schools. The Community has a popular music ministry that leads the lively weekly praise and worship prayer group and is a hallmark of the Craig Lodge youth events. The Community is also eager to support family life and makes special efforts to make families welcome at Craig Lodge. Over the last years it has developed Family Week retreats that are geared to the needs of young families and include talks for parents alongside activities for the children. The patron saints of Craig Lodge Community are: Our Lady Queen of Peace, St Joseph and St Therese of Lisieux.
As a Roman Catholic
retreat centre, Craig Lodge has a wide variety of retreats throughout the year. They cover topics such as: healing, Scripture, Theology of the Body
, Pope John Paul II
, Ignatius Spiritual Exercises and fasting.
Way of the Cross
Visitors to Craig Lodge can make A Way of the Cross
, marked out with cairns of stone for each Station, on the hill behind Craig Lodge.
has its headquarters in the grounds of Craig Lodge. Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow OBE (Order of the British Empire
), the founder and chief executive of Mary's Meals, is based at Craig Lodge.
Dalmally
Dalmally is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located near the A85 road and is served by Dalmally railway station....
, Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
in the west Highlands of Scotland.
History
Craig Lodge, a former hunting lodge in DalmallyDalmally
Dalmally is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It is located near the A85 road and is served by Dalmally railway station....
, Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, was run by Calum and Mary Anne MacFarlane-Barrow as a guest house until a pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
to Medjugorje in 1984 gave their lives a new direction. It was their children who first read about the events at Medjugorje, and the reports that the Virgin Mary was appearing to six teenagers. They had grown up in a Catholic family and were well versed in the stories of Marian apparitions at Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
and Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fátima is a famous title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as she appeared in apparitions reported by three shepherd children at Fátima in Portugal. These occurred on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13...
. They were intrigued with the idea something like this could happen in their own time and were determined to go and visit and find out more. The visit to Medjugorje, a small village in Bosnia-Herzegovina, was a life changing experience. The region was then still part of Communist Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
and to practice the Catholic faith often met with persecution. Seeing the deep faith of the local people and hearing about the extraordinary events firsthand left a lasting impression on the group. They also learnt about the messages the Virgin Mary, under the title, Queen of Peace, was giving through the visionaries. As in Lourdes
Lourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
and Fatima
Our Lady of Fatima
Our Lady of Fátima is a famous title given to the Blessed Virgin Mary as she appeared in apparitions reported by three shepherd children at Fátima in Portugal. These occurred on the 13th day of six consecutive months in 1917, starting on May 13...
her message at Medjugorje continues to be a call to return to the gospel values; to decide for God, to pray and to fast. When they returned home they urged their parents to go and visit Medjugorje too. Their experiences in Medjugorje paved the way for Calum and Mary Anne taking the decision to turn their guest house into a retreat centre – Craig Lodge Family House of Prayer. Guests come to join in with organized retreats or just to enjoy the beautiful, peaceful surroundings and take part in the Community’s daily prayer routine.
In 1990 Calum and Mary Anne invited a group of young people to form a youth community (named Krizevac Community) at Craig Lodge. The commitment was for one year and the purpose was to deepen their faith through living out the messages of Medjugorje.
“Dear Children my heart is full of grace and love. My heart is the gift I give you. Be united! Pray together! Love together!”
The Community today
The Community soon began to get involved in evangelizing other young people through youth weekend retreats at Craig Lodge, visiting parishes and initiating prayer groups.Ten years later in 2000, it was decided the Community should incorporate Permanent members too – families, single people or religious who choose to renew their commitment annually. This is Craig Lodge Community as it is today. While members of the House Community live in Craig Lodge itself and commit to one year, Permanent members live independently, in their own homes, close by to Craig Lodge. Their daily commitment is different to that of the House Community to take into account family and work responsibilities.
The purpose of the Community
The purpose of the Community is to foster holiness in the members by living out the messages of the Virgin Mary at Medjugorje. Living in community has always been recognized as a way of progressing in the spiritual life. It is a way of finding companions on the journey of faith, of supporting each other and helps to open hearts to Jesus and to others. The understanding is that people are the pathway to the growth of virtue in each of us."Pray, pray, pray."
Daily Life
Prayer is integral to the daily life of the Community: Divine Office
Liturgy of the hours
The Liturgy of the Hours or Divine Office is the official set of daily prayers prescribed by the Catholic Church to be recited at the canonical hours by the clergy, religious orders, and laity. The Liturgy of the Hours consists primarily of psalms supplemented by hymns and readings...
, the Rosary
Rosary
The rosary or "garland of roses" is a traditional Catholic devotion. The term denotes the prayer beads used to count the series of prayers that make up the rosary...
, Praise and Worship, Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina
In Christianity, Lectio Divina is a traditional Catholic practice of scriptural reading, meditation and prayer intended to promote communion with God and to increase the knowledge of God's Word...
, Intercessory prayer particularly for priests. If prayer is the breath of the Community then the Eucharist is the heart. Daily life centres on the Holy Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
“Today I invite you all to fall in love with the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Adore him, little children, in your parishes. In this way you will be united with the entire world. Jesus will become your friend and you will not talk of Him as someone you hardly know. Union with him will be a joy for you and you will become witnesses to Jesus’ love which he has for every creature. Little children when you adore Jesus you are also close to me.”
The overarching rule of the Community is to love:
“Love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins, offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gifts he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God’s grace in its various forms." 1 Peter 4: 8-11
Service
The Community’s life has a strong calling to service. First and foremost by offering hospitality to the guests who come on retreat at Craig Lodge; by praying with them and making them feel at home. The Community is committed to youth work running several youth events each year at Craig Lodge – Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
, Summer & Advent
Advent
Advent is a season observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Western liturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, called Levavi...
. There is also an outreach team that carries out missions in secondary schools. The Community has a popular music ministry that leads the lively weekly praise and worship prayer group and is a hallmark of the Craig Lodge youth events. The Community is also eager to support family life and makes special efforts to make families welcome at Craig Lodge. Over the last years it has developed Family Week retreats that are geared to the needs of young families and include talks for parents alongside activities for the children. The patron saints of Craig Lodge Community are: Our Lady Queen of Peace, St Joseph and St Therese of Lisieux.
Craig Lodge Family House of Prayer
RetreatsAs a Roman Catholic
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
retreat centre, Craig Lodge has a wide variety of retreats throughout the year. They cover topics such as: healing, Scripture, Theology of the Body
Theology of the Body
Theology of the Body is the topic of a series of 129 lectures given by Pope John Paul II during his Wednesday audiences in the Pope Paul VI Hall between September 1979 and November 1984. It was the first major teaching of his pontificate...
, Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
, Ignatius Spiritual Exercises and fasting.
Way of the Cross
Visitors to Craig Lodge can make A Way of the Cross
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross refers to the depiction of the final hours of Jesus, and the devotion commemorating the Passion. The tradition as chapel devotion began with St...
, marked out with cairns of stone for each Station, on the hill behind Craig Lodge.
Mary's Meals
The international aid charity Mary's MealsMary's meals
Mary's Meals is a school feeding movement and the name of a charity formerly known as Scottish International Relief . It was founded in 2002 and has grown from its first feeding operation of 200 children in Malawi, to a world-wide campaign, providing free school meals in hundreds of schools and...
has its headquarters in the grounds of Craig Lodge. Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow OBE (Order of the British Empire
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
), the founder and chief executive of Mary's Meals, is based at Craig Lodge.